Versailles is worse than being queen

◎This time, I will protect you. ◎

Before I knew it, the autumn of 1762 had arrived.

In the gallery facing the Royal Garden on the third floor of Schönbrunn Palace, Francis I, the Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, is leisurely admiring the beautiful scenery in the garden outside the window.

The blue sky is like pure sapphire, and the drunken autumn wind brings the rich and sweet fragrance of roses and violets in the garden.This is a masterpiece designed by the emperor himself and the artists of Lorraine.

The Habsburg family known as the "Eagle Castle" is a family with a considerable artistic tradition. The queen and her children have their own strengths in music, art, and dance. Her husband, Duke of Lorraine, Lanz first knew and fell in love with her because of the resonance in art.

Therefore, after taking over this initially very humble summer palace, the queen focused on the renovation and decoration of the palace building itself, while Franz devoted his love of art to the design of the royal garden.The garden's tree-lined roads are star-shaped and meet on the central axis of the Schönbrunn Palace. Together with the lush hedges and colorful flowers, they form a very beautiful bird's-eye panorama.

In addition to art, Franz was also very obsessed with natural science.He built the Schönbrunn Zoo and Botanical Garden beside the garden, and also has a huge collection accumulated over the years, including art treasures and scientific inventions of various ages.

——After all, his wife is the heir of the Habsburg dynasty and the real ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, and he is just occupying the title of emperor without any real power. He can only pass the time through these hobbies.

These hobbies are expensive, and he has plenty of money.Franz was a natural businessman, and his business sense was so keen that he sold arms to Frederick II of Prussia during the more than six years of war between Austria and Prussia, thus reaping huge profits.

Of course, this can't let the wife know, otherwise she will definitely lose her temper.

The attendant knocked on the door of the gallery: "Your Majesty, Grand Duchess Antania wants to see you."

Franz turned his head in surprise: "Oh, yes, Antanya has returned from Russia."

"Dad!" The moment Antanya saw the big middle-aged man by the window, she finally couldn't help but opened her arms and rushed towards him.

"Oh, I haven't seen you in half a year. My little princess has grown taller again." Franz smiled and picked up his little daughter and walked around a few times.

Antanya buried her head in her father's arms for a long time before she said in a sobbing voice, "Dad, I really miss you."

When she was about to come to the end of her life, she once thought that fortunately her father had passed away.Otherwise, how sad he would be to see his youngest daughter go to the guillotine.

Her father died when she was ten years old, and she hadn't seen him for nearly 30 years.

She really, really misses him.

"My little princess is still the most caring." Franz smiled and stroked his daughter's blond soft head, "It's not like those heartless little bastards who probably forgot about me when I went out for a few months gone."

At the beginning of the year he went to his fiefdom, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and returned to Vienna in the spring-by then Antalya had already gone to Russia.

Antanya sniffled, and wiped her tears and snot all over Franz's expensive silk clothes without any particularity—her father wouldn't mind anyway.

She raised her head and smiled sweetly: "Father, I brought you a gift! It was given to me by the Russian Empress, a painting by Rembrandt!"

"Really?" Franz's eyes lit up all of a sudden, "Oh, my Antania is so powerful, even the Russian Empress gave you a gift."

The Dutch painter Rembrandt was one of the greatest painters in Europe in the 17th century, and the major courts in Europe were proud to own his painting collections.

"Of course!" Antanya made a face at him.

"Well, it's really good!" Franz was in a good mood as he added another fine piece to his art collection.

He took the little girl on his lap and sat on the edge of the sofa by the window.The sun shone in warmly, and on the small round table of cherry branch mahogany next to him were his favorite dark purple grapes, light pink peaches and honey cakes that were shining brightly in the sun.

"You gave me such a precious gift, my little princess, what do you want?" Franz asked his daughter with a smile.

"Hey." Antanya raised her face and smiled shyly, "Why do you know everything?"

As expected of her father, she immediately guessed what she wanted to do.

Franz flicked his daughter's smooth forehead lightly: "You are my daughter——with your little thought, I can't guess it? Tell me."

Anyway, whatever his daughter wants, he can satisfy - as one of the richest men in Europe, he can give the child all the best things.

"That's right, do you know? When I was in St. Petersburg, I encountered two fires—I later learned that it was related to some secrets of the Russian royal family and the Serbian royal family."

She said, covering her heart with lingering fear.

"Oh, you're not hurt, are you? You scared my little princess!" Franz patted her on the back distressedly.

"I'm fine, Dad! But I thought, I really should learn some self-protection skills—such as swordsmanship and marksmanship." Antanya shook her father's hand, "In this way, I won't be in danger if I encounter danger." There's nothing left to fight back."

Franz frowned: "Those are things that boys learn. You are a princess, so naturally there are guards to protect you."

Look at what those savage Russians have done!How scared his little daughter is!

"But I have never been with them again. Moreover, if the danger comes from within the palace, the protection of the guards is meaningless."

Antanya raised a fleshy finger and poked her own face—well, it was as soft as a freshly steamed cream cake, and it really felt good to the touch.

She somewhat understood why Ekaterina liked to poke her face.

"Look, your daughter is so well-behaved and beautiful, and she will definitely marry into a powerful country to be the queen in the future—then how many dangers I will face!"

Franz was amused.Although the youngest daughter is young, she is a beauty at first glance, and there is no doubt that she will marry into a big country and become the queen in the future.

But he didn't think there was much possibility of his daughter's words coming true—even if it was a palace coup, it was basically aimed at male royal family members, and a delicate princess like his daughter would not be in any danger.

However, since my daughter is afraid, it is not a problem for her to learn.Anyway, he knows his daughter—playing all day long, impatient, and I'm afraid she will cry tired after learning for a long time and never want to learn anymore.

"Well, since you want to, I'll tell Leo to find an experienced swordsmanship and marksmanship teacher to teach you."

Leo is the captain of the Habsburg court musketeer team. He just took office this year and is very familiar with the emperor and his wife.

He once fought for the queen on the battlefield, and the emperor was unable to make contributions on the battlefield because of his wife's possessiveness, so when he was young, he always liked to ask him about the situation on the battlefield.

Although he is now old and his body is not flexible, the emperor no longer has the dream of fighting on the battlefield when he was young, but he still maintains a friendship with this old friend.

"Daddy treats me the best!" Antanya raised her head and kissed the emperor.

"What else?" Franz felt extremely happy after being kissed by his daughter, "Learning more things is not a gift, just treat it as an additional course for you."

"Ah, there are indeed." Antanya hugged her father's shoulders with a smile, "Dad, do you know about steam engines?"

This request was made by Nicholas.

He introduced Antanya to what a steam engine is—probably compressing steam in a small space so that it can transmit a lot of power, just like water pushes a millstone and wind turns a windmill.

"Well, I have several models," Franz replied.

As an emperor who has a lot of research on scientific research, he has collected several steam water extractors from the end of the last century to this century.Although these bulky big guys don't have much effect, but he has a certain scientific literacy and knows their meaning very well-this is a machine that can create power without human and natural external forces!

"Great!" Antanya said pleasantly, "I know a friend who is researching this kind of machine and said that maybe it can make it play a greater role."

"Friend?" Franz keenly captured this key word.

"Don't worry, he is a friend of the Duke of Croatia." Antanya laughed. "Actually, I also find it very interesting. I also want to learn from you how to run a business."

It seems that I wanted to play something new on a whim, and it was no different from buying a beautiful dress in essence.Anyway, Croatia is under the rule of the empire, and the nobles there dare not do anything to the Grand Duchess.

"Of course it's okay, my little sweetheart." Franz pampered his daughter's little cheek.

Of course, what can a seven-year-old daughter research?He doesn't believe it.

But it doesn't matter.He has plenty of money, even if he is asked to buy that unknown thing he invented in exchange for his daughter's happiness, it's no problem at all.

It's that "friend". If you have time, you still need to investigate.

After all, the eleven princesses of the Austrian royal family are as precious as treasures, and ordinary people dare not do anything, but there are many nobles who are interested in them.

Want to do business with royal fame?Emperor Franz has always been generous and doesn't care about such things.

But if he dared to attack his precious daughter, don't blame the emperor, the father, for doing something excessive in a fit of anger.

……

Coming out of the emperor's gallery, Antanya was in a great mood.

Nicholas had already got what he wanted, and the fencing and marksmanship lessons he wanted had been reported to his father, and they would start soon, and everything went smoothly.

She went to the nursery of the Grand Princess Isabella, wife of Joseph's brother, with a happy heart.

Isabella was seven months pregnant when she left Vienna.Today, Antanya's little niece is six months old.

Elder sisters Johanna, 12, and Caroline, [-], are by her sister-in-law's side.

As soon as Johanna saw Antanya, she waved her hands in surprise: "Hey, Antanya, you are back from Russia! How is St. Petersburg?"

"How about Russian wine?" Caroline asked with a smile, "Also, I heard that you were almost burned to death there?"

"Caroline!" Johanna patted her sister.

Caroline made a grimace, "Okay, I have to prepare for tomorrow's exam. Goodbye!"

"Russian wine is indeed very good," Antanya smiled indifferently, "Goodbye, cheers for the exam."

She immediately looked at the pale Isabella, "Bella, are you and Titi okay?"

According to the naming tradition of the family, the first daughter of the Queen's eldest son is named Maria Theresa, and Titi is her nickname.

"Hmm." Sister-in-law Isabella forced a smile.

She had always been in a state of anxiety and depression, but this pregnancy was such a torment that she spent six weeks in bed after March gave birth.

Antanya touched her hand with some distress: "Your hands are so cold."

Although the coolness of autumn has hit, the house with sunlight is obviously very warm.

Isabella hesitated, then whispered, "I had a miscarriage last month."

Antanya was speechless for a moment in shock——Isabella had another miscarriage less than half a year after giving birth to her daughter?

In her previous life, she didn't have any impression of this, probably because she was too young to understand these things.

But now that she has died once, and she has given birth to four children, she immediately understands how ridiculous this is.

—Brother smelly, come out and be scolded!

"Ah, that big fool of my brother!" She pressed her forehead speechlessly, "Bella, you don't know, he really cares about you, but his brain only knows how to discuss politics, but he can't express love meaning!"

And there is a serious lack of physical common sense - because the queen herself is a very healthy woman who has successfully given birth to [-] children, she seriously underestimated the difficulties of women's childbirth, let alone let her eldest son know more about it.

"No, no..." Isabella lowered her eyes, "It's just that my fate is indeed like this. I already knew it, and I don't live long."

Three years earlier, her mother had contracted smallpox and died on the eve of her wedding.

She will never forget the terrifying appearance of that disease before death, and since then, she has had nightmares every night, and she will never forget the cold touch of death approaching.

She knew that although she was young, the god of death was already waving to her.

"Don't say such things!" Johanna felt ominous, and quickly patted her sister-in-law's shoulder reassuringly.

Antania sighed in her heart—the depressed mental state of her sister-in-law might be directly related to her death a year later.

However, fortunately, he came back.

To be honest, whether it is dealing with depressive gossip or dealing with a difficult husband, she has a wealth of experience, and the effect of self-psychological adjustment is quite good.

She can change Isabella's fate.

Thinking of this, Antanya decided to distract her sister-in-law first: "Where's Titi?"

"It's at Ajia's place." Johanna probably understood her sister's meaning, got up and said, "I'll let her carry her over."

Ajia is the nanny dedicated to the royal family.

The six-month-old baby was wrapped in a pearly white swaddle of ribbon and lace, with a pink and tender face, and opened his eyes when he was held in his mother's arms.

"Titti, hello." Antanya poked her little niece's loosely clenched fist.

The little baby looked at Antanya with big ignorant eyes, then suddenly waved its fat little arms and giggled.

Antanya's vision reflected those big clear blue eyes, full of innocent trust.

A childish voice instantly sounded in my ear: "Antanya, you must keep your promise!"

It was little Theresia's voice, but it wasn't hers—it belonged to little Theresia, seven years old.

In Schönbrunn Palace many, many years ago, Titi was the youngest princess, and Antalya was only seven years older than her.

As the queen's youngest daughter, Antanya has no sister, and Titi lost her mother early.

So, like Antanya's younger sister, she grew up beside her.

On her little niece's seventh birthday, 14-year-old Antania was engaged to the French crown prince, so she happily told her: "When your eighth birthday comes, I will invite you to Paris!"

Little Theresia held her hand violently, and said in a childish voice, "Antania, you must keep your promise!"

In the second year, 15-year-old Antanya married to France alone and became the crown princess.

But little Theresia did not go to Paris.

Because she didn't live to be eight years old.

"Titti seems to like you very much."

Isabella's gentle whispers brought Antania back to reality.

"Of course." Antanya laughed, "I'm beautiful and cute, how could she not like me?"

"Oh, Antanya!" Johanna tapped the tip of her nose.

Even Isabella couldn't help laughing.

The gentle sunshine of early autumn falls into the nursery through the carved window panes, and the room is filled with the sweet fragrance of sweet peaches and pears.

But at this moment, Antanya suddenly realized a cruel fact.

Although Isabella's sister-in-law, sister and little niece are all happy here now, by this time next year, the sister-in-law and sister will have died of smallpox.

Eight years later, even the young niece died young.

As time went by, this nursery welcomed new children of the Habsburg family, but they were laughing here at this moment, but she was the only one left in just a few years.

The soft and delicate touch of the baby's skin suddenly came from the fingers.

Antanya was taken aback, and lowered her head to find that Titi had grabbed her finger—then smiled sweetly at her.

Antanya's eye sockets suddenly became hot.

She closed her palms gently, took the baby's soft and petite hand in her palm, and then blinked at her.

Don't worry, this time, I will protect you.

The author says:

See parents on the agenda √ (bushi)

Nicholas: I am not, I am not, please listen to my explanation, Your Majesty.